This invention relates to spill-resistant containers. More specifically, this invention relates to an improved spill-resistant drinking container of relatively wide-mounted construction.
A wide variety of spill-resistant drinking glasses and cups for use by infants are available throughout the prior art. Typically, these containers comprise a cup-like receptacle for holding a liquid, together with a snap-on or screw-on lid having small drinking and venting holes formed therethrough. See, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,341,062. The lid is removable to allow the container to be filled or cleaned. However, these container constructions are complicated multi-piece devices, with smaller container pieces being easily lost. Further, continual removal and replacement of the lid is both difficult and inconvenient. Because the lid snaps or screws onto the receptacle, the lid tends to have small crevices which easily trap food particles, dried liquid drops, or citrus pulp to thereby make cleaning difficult. The small drinking and venting holes in the lid easily become clogged, and they undesirably greatly restrict the rate at which one can drink from the container. This is particularly undesirable when the cup is used for infants, since infants tend to suck liquid through the drinking holes and thereby do not learn proper drinking habits as from a conventional glass. And, the drinking and venting holes do not prevent spillage when the container is tipped. That is, once tipped, the liquid in the container drains down to the lowest drinking or vent opening.
The spill-resistant container of this invention overcomes the problems and disadvantages of the prior art by providing a spill-resistant container of one-piece construction having a relatively wide-mouthed drinking opening. Moreover, this invention provides such a spill-resistant container which is easy to fill and to clean.